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New rules limit driving test location changes
From Tuesday, learner drivers in Britain can only transfer their practical test to one of the three nearest centres to their original booking site, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency announced.
Record no-shows fuel delays
Official figures shared with the BBC reveal that 64,500 booked tests went unused last year-up from 52,000 in 2024-wasting 3.2% of all slots. Nearly 2 million tests were scheduled across the UK in the same period.
Some empty slots were snapped up by resellers using automated bots and later offered at inflated prices, sources told the BBC.
Nationwide wait times exceed five months
In April 2026, the average wait stretched to 22.7 weeks in England, 22.9 weeks in Scotland, and 17.3 weeks in Wales, DVSA data shows.
Learner Emma, 21, from West London, said she now rises at 05:30 every Monday to join an online queue of thousands, yet her earliest available test remains seven months away.
"Friends who need to drive for work booked tests in unfamiliar areas just to secure a date, then swapped later. It's a gamble on passing somewhere they've never driven before."
Emma, learner driver
Instructors welcome move but remain sceptical
Donovan, an instructor who has used his local centre for a decade, recalled a six-month stretch when none of his students could book a test there. "People were booking in Scotland and later switching to London," he said.
He believes the new policy will curb speculative bookings and ease system congestion.
Carly Brookfield, CEO of the Driving Instructors Association, countered that the industry "lacks confidence these measures will genuinely fix the booking crisis."
Public frustration over no-shows
Ann Harvey told BBC Your Voice last month that her son travelled over 130 miles from Reading to Bury St Edmunds for his test after failing to secure a local slot. She was stunned to see 30 daily no-shows listed at the Suffolk centre and called for penalties.
DVSA expands capacity and defends changes
DVSA Chief Executive Beverley Warmington stated the new location restrictions "will deter bookings at centres where learners never intend to test."
The agency has added over 217,000 tests between June 2025 and April 2026, partly by deploying military examiners, and pledged to continue reducing wait times.
